I've been gone a while. I hope you all had a good Christmas and that the New Year is full of contentment.

My question is: is it possible to have given myself a wheat allergy by avoiding wheat? I haven't been too strict (I probably eat a bit of wheat when I'm out and hungry and there's nothing to eat that isn't in bread or pastry) but I have been fairly stringent, opting for salads etc. where I can.

On Wednesday evening my feet were itchy (I ate a small piece of "naughty" orange, poppyseed and yoghurt cake for afternoon tea at a friend's house - I didn't want to be rude). I took off my shoes and I found my feet had these tiny red spots all over them. Then I noticed the lower half of my legs were riddled with the same spots.

I thought it must have been the fact that I mowed the lawn that day - perhaps I'd gotten a bit allergic to the grass or something. The next morning, my arms were all blotchy and itchy and covered in the same rash. I made a doctor's appointment, thinking that perhaps I had some kind of illness like measles or something. I took an antihistamine but it did nothing at all.

The skin started to stretch and get all puffy, and it was (and still is) so itchy!

We discussed the possibility of changing washing powders, soaps, etc. but I haven't done anything like that at all. So that was ruled out.

He was concerned because he did a small test on my arm and said that the histamines were leaching out of my skin at a very high level. I am now taking a course of steroids to ease the itchiness, but the rash is still there.

I feel bloated, itchy and gruesome. I now have to go get tested to see what it is.

I tested it myself yesterday morning by eating a small piece of chocolate cake. My throat and chest felt constricted, and the itching worsened.

My mother-in-law was telling me that she heard a theory - we used to eat many different types of grains in the form of bread, and now with modern farming practises we eat one form only - wheat. Our intolerance for it builds up over years and we end up with an allergic reaction to it.

You can definitely get more sensitive to it after strictly avoiding it, I know I react more dramatically when I "indulge" now, tho not as badly as you did. Good luck. The spots around the bottom of your legs made me think of little bitey things in the grass...?

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That's what I thought at first, until it spread to my arms and chest. When I mowed the lawn, I had boots, socks and long pants on so I didn't touch anything with my skin. And I mow quite often, so it puzzled me. The rash reached up to my lower thigh, just above the knees.

The skin was not only covered in these spots, but it changed - now oedema-ridden and blotchy, with redness everywhere. Ugh.

I found this - ergo, I think by following the BTD I have created my own allergy:

Most people eat wheat so often their bodies adapt and cope and so they experience mild forms of the symptoms (known as wheat intolerance) without ever really being aware of where the problem lies. Withdrawing wheat from the diet and therefore ridding the body of wheat can lead to immense improvements in health and wellbeing.

But, and it's a big but, once wheat is eliminated from the diet it can very rarely be reintroduced. A wheat intolerance may, after a substantial wheat free period, allow a very minor reintroduction of wheat into the diet. A genuine wheat allergy has no route back to eating wheat.

Well, maybe. But the reactions you normally try to avoid via the avoidance of wheat with the BTD are not usually histamine related. Many people do get more gluten intolerant with age, and there are many things that would be unique to your own physiology that would make any direct correlation pretty much unique to your case.

My old room mate on the other hand, was deathly allergic to poppy seeds.

You should probably investigate doing some gut healing, maybe taking the supplement quercetin for a while just to calm things down a bit.

A whole system is a living system is a learning system.’ -Stewart Brand

I'm going back to the doctor today because now I've swelled up like a balloon - hands, fingers, arms, feet, legs, face... I got on the scales and it reckons I have gained 4kg (that's nearly 9 pounds) since Wednesday. That is the weirdest thing - how is that possible?!

My skin feels like it's going to burst open right now. I'm highly concerned and to be honest, quite scared. My body has never, ever reacted like this so it's all new to me.

Thanks for the advice, Dr D.

I shall go find some quercetin and I think I'll end up visiting my naturopath. I am keeping a food diary to track down the culprit, and I will be walking to try and get this fluid moving.

Soy? Woah, that'd be pretty hard for me to take - I eat tofu and tempeh, and I drink soy all the time.

The rash is now coming and going at different times of the day and affecting different areas of the body. I get itchiest at night, and I have had to trim my fingernails as I have drawn blood. I can't seem to stop scratching.

In the past day I have developed this newish rash - the lumps look like different sized mosquito bites and are now on my buttocks, back, and spreading up to my face, as well as being on my legs, arms, chest and abdomen. The redness is still the same, although the original tiny red spots have gone.

Groovie, Have you thought about going on a juice-fast (I would use vegetables only for the juice-fast) for two or three days? This would give your body a rest and (hopefully) help you to get rid of the rash. You could then re-introduce the food and observe your reactions.

Hi there, when you had your allergy test was it a blood test, and NOT a skin test? Blood testing is the much more effective way to go. Best wishes to you. I have had a very itchy rash myself on my inner right arm, but i think it is a winter itch gone mad. .

My 28 year old son also experienced something similar about 3 months ago. It started in his armpits and traveled all over his body at different times. We never figured what caused it, but it was weird.

Sirach 37:27For not every food is good for everyone, nor is everything suited to every taste.